This invention pertains to novel surfactants. The hydrophilic portion of the molecule is a linear, acylated polyethylenepolyamine. The hydrophobic portion of the molecule is a hydrocarbyl or an inertly-substituted hydrocarbyl group of at least 8 carbon atoms. The length of the hydrocarbon chain also determines the oil solubility of the polymer product; the more carbon atoms in the chain, the more soluble the product in oil. These compounds are non-ionic surfactants having an HLB of from about 12 to about 20, preferably from 14 to about 20, and range from water soluble (or dispersible) to oil soluble compounds.
The literature is replete with information pertaining to surfactant molecules in general and non-ionic surfactants in particular. See the handbook entitled "McCutcheon's Detergents and Emulsifiers", published annually by the Allured Publishing Corporation, and see also the Surfactant Science Series. Volume One of this series is entitled "Non-Ionic Surfactants", edited by M. J. Schick and published in 1967. This volume explains the concept of hydrophilic-lypophilic-balance (HLB) and methods of determining same for non-ionic surfactants.
Surfactants have many uses as emulsifiers, detergents, etc., and, the term surfactant as here used means compounds which reduce the surface tension of water when dissolved in water or aqueous solutions, or which reduce interfacial tension between two normally immiscible liquids (e.g., oil and water).